


First Aid

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: Gen, Post canon, kyoya ain't in this fic but he's still a major figure so. tag, time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 10:45:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14163135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: Set a hop, skip, and a jump into the future, Tasuku is now fifteen years old when a familiar face shows up at Buddy Police HQ--Aragami Rouga, being introduced as a new officer. Rouga's arrival dredges up old memories, and Tasuku discovers that a mere two years isn't enough time to heal after all. And sometimes you have to punch those memories in the face.(i'm posting this before x2 can air, so that its premise doesn't get completely demolished by the first episode. the buddyfight discord i'm in talks a lot about What If Rouga Became A Buddy Police Officer so i took it onto myself to try and, write that, so here's even more character analysis fic i guess)





	First Aid

Introducing a new officer, trainee or otherwise, wasn’t really that big of a deal. It was something that Tasuku had seen who knew how many times over his years in service, and it was usually something he just kind of spaced out during, but he’d never been more alert and awake before in his _life_ than when he saw the new officer Takihara led into the meeting room.

It wasn’t just that he recognized the new officer, but of course he did. He wouldn’t have been able to forget that shaggy grey hair or that...smug way of carrying himself. Tasuku bristled almost on instinct, because the person Takihara was leading to the front was none other than Aragami Rouga, former criminal accomplice, and apparently, brand new Buddy Police officer. Takihara left him at the front, returning to his seat by Tasuku, and he immediately hissed at him, “What is _he_ doing here?!”

But Takihara just put a finger to his lips, the universal symbol to tell someone to stop talking before they said something they’d regret, and so Tasuku just glared at the officer that was now introducing him at the front.

“...introduce Aragami Rouga to you. He’ll be--”

“Excuse me, sir.” Tasuku stood up from his chair in the same breath that Takihara told him to _shut up_ , his voice definitely loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room. “But Aragami Rouga is a criminal wanted for who knows how many crimes he committed as an accomplice to Gaen Kyoya. There is absolutely no reason he should be standing up there, and definitely not as a new officer!”

Anger had seeped into his voice until he was all but outright yelling, and Rouga just smirked at him, that same infuriatingly smug look he’d had when Tasuku had first chased him down in the Cho-Hakone mountains. The look that said Tasuku was about to lose.

“What are you talking about, Ryuuenji? We always do a thorough background check on any and all applicants. Aragami’s didn’t pull up anything like that.” The officer at the front scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know what your problem with him is, but this kind of throws a wrench into things, because the plan had been for you to help get him accustomed to what our daily work is actually like. You _are_ the one who’s worked the longest at balancing things like he’s going to have to.”

Tasuku scowled. “My apologies. I understand. I must have mistaken him for someone _else_ with that exact same name and face.” And with that, Tasuku threw himself back into his seat, crossing his arms and glaring daggers at Rouga. Takihara clearly knew something about what was happening and why Rouga was here, but he hadn’t said anything to Tasuku about it--had all their years as partners not at least given Tasuku the right to hear about things like this?

He could hardly pay attention to what was being said--assignment of duties, probably. And Tasuku had already been told what he was being expected to do, so it didn’t even matter that he was too busy fuming to listen in. Instead, he was planning out just exactly what he was going to say to Rouga--and later, to Takihara--about how much he hated him, didn’t trust him, and was planning on revealing to their coworkers exactly what Rouga’s plans were as soon as he possibly could.

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur, and as Rouga moved off to the side so that everyone else could properly focus on what was being said, Tasuku’s gaze moved with him. If looks could kill, the one he was aiming straight at Rouga would have obliterated him from the planet. Ah, but there was something more productive Tasuku could do than just sit and glare at Rouga, wasn’t there?

He pulled out his phone, shot another glare at Takihara, and then tapped out a text to the man sitting right next to him.

_what is he doing here._

From where he sat, just a few scant inches away, Tasuku could hear Takihara’s phone buzz in his pocket. This time it was Takihara’s turn to shoot Tasuku an annoyed glance, but he still pulled his own phone out and replied.

_It’s not like it’s my fault. Stop glaring at me._  
_can you just tell me what he’s doing here. how did he get all the way here without someone finding out?_  
_I tried to figure that out too when I heard the news. But it’s as though his record never existed in the first place. It probably got erased by someone, and since he faded into obscurity for a while, no one ever noticed._  
_Before you say anything about being attentive, you didn’t notice either._  
_shut up._  
_who would even delete that?_

Takihara glanced at him again, but it wasn’t that same frustrated look. It was...something gentler than that.

_Who else?_

Okay, yeah. That had been a stupid question.

_i’m still angry at you by the way. you knew about this and didn’t tell me until just now.  
_ _That’s because I knew you were going to react like this._

Stupid irritating longtime friends. Takihara was right, of course, and that was even more annoying than the fact that he hadn’t gotten told anything. Tasuku just hit him with another glare and Takihara shrugged in return, and that was the end of their silent, mid-briefing conversation.

The meeting itself closed up soon enough, and that meant it was finally time to face Rouga. He was waiting for Tasuku at the front of the meeting hall, and Tasuku could feel his frown deepening as he approached him. There wasn’t even any reason for him to hate Rouga this much, but everything about him--the shaggy grey hair, the fact that the adult-sized uniform fit him better than it did Tasuku, how he was almost as tall as Takihara when Tasuku hadn’t grown that tall--irritated him. He came to a top in front of Rouga, fully aware that he was radiating pure malice, and Rouga just crossed his arms.

“So you’re the officer who’s going to be helping me learn the ropes around here, huh?” Rouga’s deep voice was filled with amusement. “Sorry we got off on the wrong foot there. My name is Aragami Rouga, and you’re Officer...”

“Don’t mess around,” Tasuku snapped. “I don’t know why you’re here, but--”

“Oh, that’s funny. I know Yagumo said your name while he was introducing me, but I can’t quite recall. Can you remind me?”

Tasuku narrowed his eyes. What was Rouga playing at? “...Ryuuenji Tasuku.”

“Right, right. I’ll try to remember that this time. But for now, I’m in your care,” Rouga grinned, his sharp canines glinting in the light, “Purgatory Knight.”

Without hesitating even for a moment, Tasuku pulled a fist back and connected a punch to Rouga’s jaw. It wasn’t enough to knock him down, though he wished it had been, but Rouga was a sturdily-built guy. Tasuku would’ve had to throw him or just plain fight dirty against him to be able to do that, so knocking him back a step would have to do for now.

Takihara had been milling around near the door, and on seeing Tasuku punch Rouga he started to run over, already shouting. “Tasuku! What do you think you’re--”

“It’s nothing,” Tasuku said firmly, shaking his hand out as Rouga rubbed his jaw. “Just--just settling some things.”

Rouga made no effort to retaliate, but he did look...impressed, for some reason. He probably hadn’t expected such a drastic reaction from Tasuku, but that had been a low blow in the first place. _Especially_ coming from Rouga.

Tasuku exhaled, and then stuck one hand out. “I’m Officer Ryuuenji Tasuku, your current superior. I’ll be showing you around HQ and getting you settled in.”

“Thanks.” Rouga took his hand, not making any aggressive attempts through the gesture. He didn't even try to squeeze Tasuku's hand until it hurt, or anything like that. “I’ll make sure I don’t forget that.”

Takihara looked pretty uneasy leaving the two of them alone, but he had his own work to do, too. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t actually stay with the two of them the whole day, but he texted Tasuku telling him to make absolutely sure he didn’t get another suspension. The one on his record was already bad enough-- _and couldn’t be erased so easily,_ Tasuku thought spitefully--and if he got one for getting in a fistfight with Rouga, he wouldn’t be able to return to work ever again. That one punch would have to last him the rest of their time together.

The tour around HQ went relatively simply, and it wasn’t like Rouga knowing where the locker rooms were would have any major impact on anything. Besides, Kyoya had infiltrated the Buddy Police before. It wasn’t like it was impossible that Rouga already knew the layout of the entire building.

“...and the break room. Pretty much the only places you actually need to know are your station, the lockers, and here.” Tasuku glanced over at Rouga, and more specifically, at where he’d punched him. “...by the way, do you want some ice for that?”

“Huh? Oh…” Rouga seemed surprised, like Tasuku had just knocked him out of his thoughts. It wasn’t that he was distracted, exactly, but it was more that he seemed uncomfortable being here. “Sure. You hit hard, you know.”

“That was kind of the point.”

Rouga barked a laugh. “Still sore about that, huh?”

“I’d care a lot less about it if you weren’t a living, breathing memorial to it.”

They walked into the break room together, and as always, it felt just a little bit ostentatious to Tasuku. There wasn’t really any need for it to be this spacious, regardless of how big HQ itself was. No one took breaks that were long enough to warrant it, and even now, no one was in it. Tasuku gestured for Rouga to take a seat while he packed one of the little plastic trash bags with ice and then tied it off, offering it to him. Rouga took it, no questions asked, and pressed it against his jaw.

Tasuku huffed and took a seat near him. “So, why are you here?”

“Because I finished all the training and passed the entry exam, genius.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking you what plan got you installed here.”

“Come on. Do you really think I’d tell you something like that so easily?”

“Honestly? Yes.”

Rouga laughed again, sitting back in his chair. “So I guess you’re not going to believe me if I tell you I’m here because I genuinely, legitimately want to be part of the Buddy Police?”

Tasuku was silent for a moment, eyeing Rouga. He didn’t...seem to be lying. But at the same time, this was _Rouga_ , for crying out loud. He had never been someone who was particularly easy to read. Tasuku had figured out at least that much during the time they’d spent together as teammates in Disaster.

There wasn’t any getting around it. Tasuku couldn’t see Rouga, looking almost identical to how he did in Disaster with his long hair and steely gaze, without his thoughts taking him directly back to Kyoya. Tasuku was fifteen now, already enrolled in high school, and he could still hear Kyoya whispering promises to him about how _he_ could save the world. Protect the things he cared about. Show _his_ form of justice to the world, without the interference of corrupt adults. He would be lying if he ever told someone he hadn’t...at the very least _appreciated_ his time at Kyoya’s side, so he’d had to lie every time anyone asked him about it.

It was almost certainly the same for Rouga as well. Tasuku was a memorial in honor of the person who had used him and then thrown him to the side when he didn’t have anymore use of him. In fact, it would have made a lot more sense to have regarded each other as friends or comrades after how they’d both been treated by Kyoya, but instead Tasuku just felt bitter towards him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rouga said flatly. “They gave you a second chance, despite what you did. Don’t you think I deserve one too?”

Tasuku sat back, his whole body feeling heavy. How was he supposed to argue against that? Rouga just kept hitting him where he was weakest. He was already so in debt to Takihara, Stella, and everyone else that worked here for taking him in and allowing him to, at his young, young age, join them in their crusade against crime. And then they’d done so a second time, after Tasuku had abandoned them and run away to Kyoya’s side, only to come crawling back to them after Kyoya had gotten smacked down. He’d never quite been able to voice the depth of the gratitude he felt towards the people around him. But maybe he could show it in other ways.

So when he spoke again, it was quiet. “If you’re being sincere, then I want you to know that the only reason I’ll even let you be here is because I know that the Buddy Police _did_ give me a second chance. I can’t just repay kindness like that, but I can...extend it to you too. Maybe there’s nothing on your official record detailing your crimes, but you and I both know what you’ve done, and that’s what makes it a second chance anyways. But,” Tasuku said, his voice hardening, “if you _ever_ step on the kindness that they’re offering you, I will have you thrown in a cell faster than you can comprehend.”

Rouga was silent, for once. No snappy remark got shot back; instead he just kind of glanced around the room, with its stupid big bay windows and potted plants and carefully arranged tables as if there was an actual interior designer in charge of this place, and then turned his eyes back to Tasuku. What he’d been thinking about as he looked over HQ--both this room, and the rest the building, and all the people working in it--was a mystery. “That’s fair.”

“Also, you need to pin your hair back. Having your bangs cover your eyes is a liability.”

Rouga snorted. “What, and you having half your face covered up isn’t?”

“Can you see both of my eyes, Aragami?”

“Sorry, I can only see one. My view of the other one is blocked.”

Tasuku rolled his eyes. “I’ll ask Kuu if she has any extra clips you can use when I see her, but that’s probably not going to be until this evening. She has school.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be there too, wonderboy?”

Tasuku scowled. “Don’t call me that. And I _would_ be in class right now if I hadn’t been called in this morning specifically to handle you. What about you? Aren’t you the same age as me?”

Rouga shrugged, and the ice he was holding settled. “Sure, I may not have a criminal record anymore, but my record of dropping out of school after school after school sure stayed. There’s probably not anywhere that would even want to take me.”

“So you didn’t even bother trying to enroll anywhere?”

“It’s not like there’s any point in it when I’m here, anyways. Besides, are you really sure you should be nagging me when you’re as famous as you are for ditching?”

“It’s--it’s not ditching! I can’t just ignore a call to work!” But it was, in fact, absolutely ditching. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, least of all to Rouga, but he had in fact used work as an excuse to take a day off from class so he didn’t end up collapsing from overextending himself. Jack didn’t approve, and Takihara and Stella would never know about it, but he always felt a little guilty for it. His grades were in shambles and Stella always looked so disappointed when he inevitably showed her his report card, but like Rouga said, there wasn’t really much point to it when he was kind of already assured a job. “Besides, what I’m doing here and now is important. It’s worth a few skipped days.”

“Well, whatever you say.” Rouga just shrugged, and the conversation screeched to a halt.

Tasuku sat back in his chair, almost instantly going for his phone. He clicked the screen on and--yep, Takihara had sent him an absolute mess of texts. When would he realize Tasuku was old enough that he didn’t have to be tended to as if he was a grade schooler? Instead of bothering to reply, a gesture he knew was meaningless _and_ childish, he texted Kuu instead, saying he wanted her to bring him some of her hairclips. He wasn’t just being petty when he told Rouga his hair needed to be out of his face--it was an actual regulation they had. He’d probably need to start pulling his hair back like Stella did, too.

Why was he even worried about Rouga as if he were actually a member of the Buddy Police, anyways? It wasn’t like he could be believed about actually wanting to be here. To use a more than fitting saying, you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks, and all Rouga really knew was how to do Kyoya’s orders. Or...that was what Tasuku thought, at least.

He ignored Kuu’s painfully cheerful replies asking about if he was finally going to let her make him _cute_ or whatever, and instead glanced up at Rouga, who was staring out at the cityscape through the windows. If, for a second, Rouga really was trying to change himself, what kind of things was he thinking as he stared out at the city that he’d tried to destroy a few years ago? What had he been thinking when he’d made the decision to go from someone who only hurt others to someone who could protect?

It probably all came back to Kyoya, really. Tasuku could relate to that--after his own return to the Buddy Police after Kyoya had left, he’d spent more time than he really wanted to admit rolling what Kyoya had said to him over in his head. Save the world. Burn away the corruption. Show what justice was to him. Kyoya had been right, in a sense--maybe he’d gone about it all the wrong way, but he hadn’t been incorrect when he said that the world was becoming corrupt and was rotting away, and that it was something that could be fixed. Kyoya had been right, and perhaps that was where all of Tasuku’s bitter feelings came from--if Rouga had showed up again, maybe Kyoya would too, and he could say all the right things again and tell Tasuku he really _was_ making a difference.

That was how Tasuku felt about it, certainly. But how did Rouga feel? Other than the fact that Rouga had been the member of Disaster that knew Kyoya the longest, Tasuku knew...alarmingly little about him. He was more of a street brawler than anything, and Gao had told him that Rouga wasn’t the kind of person who let anyone be friends with him. Sort of the same way as Tasuku used to be, too.

And maybe that was Kyoya’s fault, too. Maybe Kyoya had done something that had so poisoned the concept of friendship for Rouga that he refused to let anyone even approach him that way. Maybe, just _maybe_ , the fact that Rouga was acting so calm around Tasuku right now, despite their shared past, was because he’d came at Rouga angrily and hatefully, rather than with understanding and a desire to bond with him. That was probably something he knew how to deal with better than how the other officers would approach him, at least. And yet...something about that just made Tasuku feel guilty for it.

It wasn’t that he could trust Rouga, not after everything. But the more he thought about the situation, the more he _wanted_ to trust Rouga.

Maybe this was how Takihara, Stella, and Kuu had felt after Tasuku came back to the Buddy Police. Maybe this was what defined the second chance that he had extended to Rouga.

Tasuku set his phone in his lap. “So, uh, by the way. Since I’m technically still supposed to be showing you around, we don’t actually have much of anything to do today. We’re in the same department, so we're probably going to be working together pretty regularly. I don't really have much of a right to say this after how I...greeted you, but if there's anything I can do…”

Rouga snorted. “First you come at me looking like you're going to kill me, and now you're trying to be a proper senior officer and offer me help and guidance. All this after just a few sappy lines?” He smirked viciously, eyes narrowing. “No wonder Kyoya was able to get under your skin so easily.”

Another carefully measured blow, aimed directly at a weakness Tasuku had already carelessly revealed to him. Rouga was perfectly willing to fight dirty, and if he hadn’t already figured out why Rouga was acting like this, Tasuku would’ve been ready to turn to violence again. “You’re trying to make me hate you, right? By bringing him up like that.” But this was a better counter. “Gao told me once you refused to let anyone try to be your friend, right? It’s kind of silly, putting it like that, but I understand why.”

Rouga’s smirk had fallen off and shattered somewhere on the floor, and Tasuku had the advantage now. Their little back and forth was stupid, but if Rouga was going to play like this, then Tasuku had every right to do exactly the same. “What are you talking about?”

“I was part of Disaster too, of course. The first thing he said to me after I agreed to join him was that I was his _friend_ now. If the simple few weeks I spent at his side was enough to put me to the point where the mere mention of his name puts me on edge, how about you, who was with him for so much longer?” Tasuku couldn’t actually keep looking at Rouga. It wasn’t right to look at someone so...vulnerable. It was like staring at someone with a festering wound that wouldn’t heal. “For...years, probably.”

It was silent, now. Tasuku half expected Rouga to throw the bag of ice in his face, but he didn’t. He just sighed, his entire body sagging tiredly. “Is that supposed to be a clever lead-in to get me to talk about him?”

Tasuku shrugged. “You already know everything about me. It’s only fair.”

“Fair, huh…” Rouga sat back and looked straight forward--not at Tasuku, but somewhere past him. “Yeah, it has been years. I met him...it must be eight years ago, now. It was two years before the Disaster happened. On January 18th. It was his ninth birthday.”

Tasuku slipped his phone back into his pocket and gently set his hands in his lap. If Rouga was willing to talk, he would listen.

“I don’t know where you were before Disaster, but I was living in the absolute gutter of society. I don’t know what happened to my parents. But it was the kind of place where more important than luxuries like names and birthdays and friendship, you worried about where your next meal was coming from, or if you’d have someplace warm to sleep at night. And...Kyoya showed up there, one snowy day, and took me home with him.” Rouga looked down. “He was obviously a rich kid, but he just wanted to play with someone, so I did. And when his parents came to fetch him, he pointed to me and said to them that he wanted me. So they took me home with them.

“He was the one who gave me the name Aragami Rouga, and he was the one who decided my birthday would be the same as his, January 18th. I was eight years old. It was the first time anyone had ever really wanted to be my friend.” Rouga set the bag of ice on the table, now apparently trying to use absolutely anything to distract him from what he was saying. “But friend means something different to Kyoya than to anyone else. It’s a word you use for someone who’s willing to do anything you ask without question, and ignore anything bad you do. But that’s all I know a friend to be, after so many years of him treating me like that. It’s not just something I can grow out of that easily.”

Tasuku didn’t say anything. Didn’t respond at all, actually. What sort of response was there to that kind of thing? Kyoya’s involvement in Rouga’s life really was a wound, a gaping, oozing wound that _couldn’t_ heal. It was a gash that cut straight through him, and even just talking about it must hurt, much less what Tasuku had basically forced him into now.

“I hate you, you know? I’d slap that into the past tense, but it’s still very current. I spent all that time with him, doing every single thing he asked, anything he wanted, but as soon as you showed up on his radar he dropped everything to make you his. He got me without any effort, but he was willing to move the world just for the chance to _talk_ to you.” Rouga’s voice was dangerous now, and it was only Tasuku’s training that kept him from flinching. “You were meant to be a replacement for me, did you know that? He was so sure that you were perfect that he kicked me to the curb without any hesitation the first time I dared to challenge him--I guess if I was a trained dog, you were like...a sword. Brutal, efficient, couldn’t talk back.” But then Rouga sighed again, and sat back in his chair again. “But hating you is probably what he wants from me, so I’m trying not to.”

“...I’m not going to lie,” Tasuku said, his voice as even and measured as he could make it, “I hate you too. For pretty much the exact same reason you gave me, actually. I...envied how close you were to him. He came into my life, said everything I’d ever wanted to hear, reached out to me, told me to throw away _everything_ for him...and then when I did, he still always seemed to favor you over me, even though he was all I had anymore. I probably _was_ just meant as a replacement for you. We...always were just tools to him, after all.”

Rouga barked a laugh and grinned. “We’re both so pathetic, aren’t we? Me, still chasing his shadow. You, still head over heels for him.”

“I--I am _not_.”

“Listen, it’s fine. It was obvious even when you were hiding in a suit of armor. It’s not like it’s a _secret_.”

Tasuku buried his face in his hands. “Oh my _god_.”

And just like that, their respective wounds were covered up again. It wasn’t something that could be talked about for long, and the fact that they’d managed to open up to each other even this much despite their obvious hostility...it was a miracle, really. But if there was anyone in the whole world who would understand those wounds, it was each other.

Tasuku hadn’t ever really talked about it with anyone else before now. What was he supposed to say about it, anyways? It really did just sound like some stupid schoolboy infatuation, when everything that surrounded Kyoya was so much _more_ than that. But at least if anyone understood that, it was Rouga, the only person on the face of the planet Tasuku could talk to about this without feeling like an idiot. He hadn’t even talked to Jack about most of it, because how could he?

“...is your chin feeling better?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s good.”

Resentment was still festering in Tasuku, but it was only resentment now. He really couldn’t hate Rouga, could he?

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Tell me what the other officers here are like.”

Tasuku laughed just a little and sat back, smiling. “Well, there’s Takihara, who you already met. He’s been my work partner pretty much ever since I joined the Buddy Police, and he was actually the person who rescued me after the Disaster. He’s pretty much exactly what he seems like--he cares more than anyone else about keeping the peace and helping others. He became an officer because he admired Captain Answer so much when he was a kid, and his whole room is covered in hero show merch. He still watches them whenever he can, too.”

“So he’s one of those types, huh. Honestly, I wouldn’t have pegged him for that.”

“Right? But he tries so hard to live up to the kind of standards that heroes like that have. He’s a really good person, and he believes in me more than I’ve ever believed in myself. He’s probably the best person on the force.”

Rouga just nodded, looking kind of distant.

“And there’s Stella, who’s a very competent officer herself but usually gets stuck doing odd jobs and reception work. She works really hard at everything she does, almost to the point of overwork, and I worry about her a lot, honestly…” Tasuku smiled, just thinking about her and everything she did for him. “I didn’t have any siblings in the first place, so I wouldn’t know, but...I imagine she’s a lot how an older sister would be. She’s the one who always nags me about my homework and stuff like that, and she’s always offering to buy me stuff like clothes. Give it a while and you’ll probably get her pestering you too, not that it’s a bad thing. I think it’s just how she shows she cares about people.”

Rouga nodded again. “It sounds like you care a lot about these people.”

“Yeah.” Tasuku shrugged. “They took me in after the Disaster. They’re all like family, at this point. You’ll probably get adopted by them too, sooner or later.”

“I doubt it.”

“Hey, don’t be like that. They were willing to put up with a brat like me, so surely they’d be willing to deal with you too,” Tasuku said with a grin, and Rouga just rolled his eyes.

“You’re still an uppity brat, kiddo.”

“Did you know? There’s no cameras in this room. If I punched you again, no one would find out.”

Rough laughed, a broad smile on his face. “Tell me about who you mentioned before. Kuu, I think?”

“Yeah. If Stella’s like an older sister, then Kuu’s got to be the little sister. She’s going to be turning 12 this year, actually, and she’ll go from trainee to real officer soon enough. I think she’s going to be the youngest officer after me, actually. She’s brash and outspoken and always challenges me on just about everything, but when it comes to work she’s actually very dutiful and does her best to live up to the expectations placed on her. She...reminds me a lot of myself, actually, which makes me feel like I’m being a bad influence on her…”

“As if that’s hard for you to be.”

“God, just wait until she’s picked up all of _your_ bad habits. She’s always trying to be seen as mature and adult, but she’s pushing herself way harder than she should be...I mean, it’s okay when _I’m_ the one doing that, but she’s still a kid. She should be enjoying the time she has.”

Rouga sat forward in his chair, resting his chin on a fist. “Are you listening to yourself right now?”

“Fifteen years old is practically an adult. It’s fine.”

“I’m older than you, twinkerbell.”

“What--what does that even _mean_? Don’t call me that.”

It wasn’t that conversation was easy, exactly, since there was still that undercurrent of mutual resentment flowing between them. But it was resentment that wasn’t backed by actually disliking each other now, and that was probably the best they were going to get for now. But Tasuku was actually willing to entertain the idea of Rouga legitimately wanting to be part of the Buddy Police now--it still felt a bit like an interloper was treading on his territory, but maybe, after all the hardships that Rouga had gone through, he could find a place for himself here, too.

Tasuku wanted to trust Rouga. Trust him with this place, with the family that had taken care of him after every bad thing that had ever happened in his life. Trust him with the idea of a life that existed outside of Kyoya’s all-consuming influence, even if Rouga was still stubbornly living with some mementos of him that weren’t easily thrown out--a name and a birthday. Not that Tasuku could fault him for that, not when he still owned the Purgatory Knights deck that Kyoya had given to him two years ago, and hadn’t deleted Kyoya’s phone number from his contacts.

The day ended up passing slowly, and Tasuku almost found himself wishing he’d been in class instead.There were still awkward edges to trying to interact with Rouga, but those would get smoothed out soon enough, or so he hoped. Going from rivals that hated each other’s guts to allies that would have to work together was going to be rough, but nothing worth doing was ever easy.

At least Tasuku could finally text Takihara and tell him that the two of them had actually mostly smoothed things over. At least enough that it wouldn’t interfere with work. He finished sending that message when his phone buzzed again--and it was from someone else entirely.

“Hey, Aragami.”

“Yeah?”

“Gao just invited me to some kind of gathering at his house.”

“And? What does that have to do with me?”

Tasuku faltered for a moment. If just bringing up Gao’s name wasn’t enough, then maybe the next words he’d planned to say wouldn’t be enough either. But it was possible, even for Rouga’s big gaping wound that was still infected and painful and hurting, to start healing just like how Tasuku’s had started to heal. If he was willing to let it start healing, at least.

“Do you want to go with me?”


End file.
